AgustaWestland case: Saxena turns approver

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Rajiv Saxena

A Delhi court on Monday permitted alleged middleman Rajiv Saxena and accused in the AgustaWestland VVIP chopper deal case to become an approver.

Saxena was allowed after the Enforcement directorate supported his plea by saying that he would be an important witness in the case.

According to the ED, Saxena who was extradited along with corporate lobbyist Deepak Talwar from Dubai to India colluded with Gautam Khaitan, another accused in the AgustaWestland choppers case, for routing the purported kick backs of the deal even as it is understood that Michel had links with him.

The ED has alleged that Rajeev, his wife Shivani Saxena and their two Dubai-based firms — Ms UHY Saxena, Dubai and Ms Matrix Holdings — routed “the proceeds of crime and further layered and integrated in buying the immovable properties/shares among others”.

“These companies further siphoned off the said money/ proceeds of crime in the name of consultancy contracts to Interstellar Technologies Ltd, Mauritius, and others which were further transferred to UHY Saxena, Dubai and Matrix Holdings Ltd. Dubai and others,” the ED had charged.

—India Legal Bureau